1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lift apparatus to be installed on a swimming pool deck adjacent the edge of a swimming pool for transporting a passenger from the pool deck into and out of the swimming pool.
2) Description Of the Prior Art
For individuals with limited mobility, access to a swimming pool is difficult, if not impossible, without some type of mechanical lift assistance. There are a number of apparatus designed to lift and transport a person into and out of a swimming pool. None, however, provide a boom which is pivotally mounted at an oblique angle to the pool deck for movement in an oblique plane between the pool deck and the swimming pool so that a passenger carrier, which is suspended from the boom, sweeps an arc close to the deck and pool to provide a safe and secure apparatus for entering and leaving the pool.
The following are considered representative of prior passenger lift apparatus. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,106--Grimes et al, a rotatable and vertically reciprocal chair first rotates from a position over a pool deck to a position over a swimming pool and then descends for passenger entry into the pool. Thus, Grimes requires structure for both rotational and vertical movement of the chair to transport a person into and out of the swimming pool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,844--Twitchell et al discloses a lift apparatus having a boom which is pivotally mounted at one end about a horizontal axis to an upper end of a vertical mast that is rotatable about a vertical axis. A passenger support sling extends from the other end of the boom. Rotation of the mast and pivotal movement of the boom are necessary to move the sling and passenger to a desired position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,008--Nolan is directed to a swimming pool chair lift which has a vertically oriented cam extending from the base of the swimming pool to a pool deck for transporting a chair vertically and in a helical path into and out of the swimming pool. A cam follower is coupled to the chair and follows an upper helical section of the cam to first rotate the chair from the deck to a position over the pool after which the chair drops vertically along the cam into the pool.
Netherlands 7603243 discloses a lift apparatus for transporting a detachable wheelchair into and out of a swimming pool from a pool deck. The lift apparatus has an arm which pivots about a horizontal axis in a vertical plane to raise the wheelchair above the deck and then to lower the wheelchair into the pool. The wheelchair is pivoted in a ferris wheel manner, from a passenger boarding position located a distance from the edge of the pool, through an arc greater than 90.degree., thus raising the wheelchair and passenger to a vertical height above the deck before entering the pool.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior passenger lift apparatus by pivotally mounting one end of a boom at an oblique angle to the pool deck so that a passenger carrier, which is suspended from the other end of the boom, sweeps an arc in proximity to the deck and the pool as the boom moves in an oblique plane between a raised position over the deck and a lower position over the pool to transport a passenger into and out of the pool.